The present invention relates generally to dispensers and in particular to a ticket dispensing mechanism to print and dispense tickets wherein the leading end of one ticket is used to push and eject and earlier printed ticket from the ticket dispensing mechanism.
Ticket printing and dispensing devices are well known in the art and many variations have been considered. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,669 to Lohse et al. discloses a direct-recording printer and a housing structure therefor. The direct-recording printer includes a thermo printer contacting a paper web as it is advanced by a platen. Once the web has been printed, it exits the housing along a horizontal pass beneath a cutting bar. A cutting edge on the end of the cutting bar allows the paper web to be cut.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,376 to Teraoka discloses a label printer to print labels on a roll. Once the labels are printed, they are ejected from the printer housing at an angle through a slot in the printer housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,833 to Bretti discloses a device for supporting and guiding a roll of paper in an accounting machine. The machine has a reservoir for a paper roll, with rollers in the bottom of the reservoir to facilitate rolling of the roll as the web is unwound from the roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,171 to Sapitowicz, discloses a horizontally or vertically orientable compact ticket processor. The ticket processor has a U-shaped transport pass with input and output slots in closely situated parallel planes. An overrunning clutch forms part of the transport drive between the reader and the printer to shorten the transport pass by permitting the leading edge of the ticket to enter the printer while the ticket is being read by the reader. In operation, individual tickets are fed into the input slot and are conveyed to the printer before being discharged via the output slot.
Although the above-identified patents disclose different ticket printing and dispensing devices, these devices incorporate complex mechanical solutions to print and dispense printed tickets. Accordingly, improved ticket dispensing mechanisms are desired. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel ticket dispensing mechanism.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a ticket dispensing mechanism comprising:
a drive receiving sheet material from a supply and advancing said sheet material;
a printer to print ticket information on the sheet material thereby to form a printed ticket; and
a retaining mechanism receiving the printed ticket advanced by said drive, said retaining mechanism holding said printed ticket in a manner such that the leading end of the next ticket printed contacts and ejects the held ticket prior to itself being held by said retaining mechanism.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a ticket dispenser comprising:
a housing defining an internal chamber for receiving a roll of paper web;
a drive receiving said paper web and advancing said paper web when a ticket is to be formed;
a printer to print ticket information on said paper web as it is advanced by said drive;
a retaining mechanism receiving the printed paper web advanced by said drive; and
a cutting device to cut said paper web after said paper web has been printed and advanced to said retaining mechanism thereby to separate a ticket from said paper web, wherein said retaining mechanism holds said ticket and guides said paper web in a manner such that when the paper web is advanced by said drive during formation of the next ticket, the leading end of the paper web contacts and ejects the held ticket from said housing.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of dispensing sequentially printed tickets comprising the steps of:
after each ticket is printed, advancing the ticket to a retaining mechanism; and
retaining the ticket in a manner such that when the next ticket is advanced, the next ticket contacts and ejects the retained ticket prior to itself being retained.
The present invention provides advantages in that tickets are printed and ejected by the ticket dispensing mechanism in a simple, consistent and reliable manner using the leading end of one ticket to contact and eject the previously printed ticket.